Kilden
The city of Kilden, established as a colony half a generation hence, fell to ruin before her native sons and daughters could grow their beards. The colony was established by miners, traders, holymen, and craftsmen hoping to expand dwarven influence into The Thousand Knives - a mountainous region in northern Sonmar of impassible steep slopes and sharp peaks towering high above rocky and obscured valleys. So unusual is this terrain that many stories have been created to explain how the range got such distinctive peaks. The most popular legend is the gnomish song “Heaven’s Forge”, which tells the tale of a great war between gods and demons pulling the mountains both skyward and into the earth in a tug-of-war over the rich mineral deposits The Thousand Knives are known for. The range is largely unexplored, with many of the inner valleys nearly inaccessible by non-magical means. Indeed, there is one valley that is known for even being inaccessible through magical means. Much speculation surrounds this mysterious location - could it be a ward against a sealed evil? Or perhaps a concentration of the leftover magics some claim shaped The Thousand Knives? Much is unknown about this land. Settlers chose one such valley closer to where the Knives tumble down into the lower (but still quite craggy) Western Range. Kilden was founded where the slopes of the valley pinch back together. The founders followed a stream that washed over the broad flat granite slabs the form the valley floor, past a lake they named Moradin’s Cup, to where the main source of the stream came gushing out of a system of caves. At this point, a giant, flat-topped block of stone thrust up several hundred feet from the valley floor before giving way to the sharp peaks that are more typical of the range. They named this place The Anvil, and cut stone steps to lead up to it. Where The Anvil meets the wall of the mountain it abuts were several entrances into the same cave system that fed the river. A survey established the system’s high mineral value and quantity. The system was vast, deep, and entirely untouched by the civilized races. The dwarves cut their halls into the portal caverns and adjoining hollows. The river and lake were key to Kilden’s early success. Channels were cut into the rock to allow boats to transport goods to and from the lake, which connected the city to regional traders. From Moradin’s Cup, the river widened and slowed, flowing out of the range and down into the populous lowlands shared by many races and kingdoms. Seasonal settlements of non-dwarven travelers and traders formed along the rocky banks, and Kilden’s population grew quickly as dwarves learned of the vast riches and easily-converted caves. Kilden was a huge success almost overnight, and it is to this success that the city owes its downfall. A marauding horde of orcs had also heard of the riches of Kilden, its isolation, and its unrefined defences. They arrived by the thousands, blockading the southern gap in the valley and cutting off all means of escape or reinforcement, and over weeks slowly encroached on the city until they were at the base of The Anvil. The stranglehold lasted for months, and many of the citizens either died defending Kilden in skirmishes in the valley or The Anvil. Others fled deep into the caves to die of starvation, injury, or insanity. The horde sacked Kilden entirely, raping and slaughtering those who were unable to flee. They left the city in ruin, and to this day it remains uninhabited save for occasional bands of orcs. Though many early attempts had been made to re-establish the city, regional political instability, plague, and Kilden’s remote location continue to conspire against expeditions.